Some Eastern Iowa schools release early Monday because of extreme heat

Students were released early from classes Monday on the second day of the academic year — and will again Tuesday — in the Cedar Rapids Community School District after only three hours of instructional time because of extreme heat.

Several other Eastern Iowa districts — but not all — also let students out early, and another day of extreme heat is expected with heat indexes approaching 115 degrees.

In the Cedar Rapids district, 30 percent of the school buildings use window air conditioning units — and that cools classrooms by only about 10 degrees in extreme heat, Cedar Rapids Superintendent Tawana Grover said.

Other areas of buildings without central air conditioning — like hallways, gyms and cafeterias — are not cooled, making school buildings “extremely hot and what we consider to be unsafe conditions,” Grover said.

“Whenever we have to cancel school, we recognize that is a big deal,” Grover said. “We try to do everything we can to avoid school closures because we understand the implications there for our families.”

The district told parents Monday evening that were would also be an early release Tuesday. High school and middle school students will be dismissed at 10:50 a.m., and elementary school students will be dismissed at 11:50 a.m.

Iowa requires schools to have 1,080 instructional hours. “Every minute counts,” Grover said. By holding school Monday — even if it was only for three hours — students who “depend on us for meals” still had breakfast and lunch before going home, she said. That also will be the case with early dismissal Tuesday.

But releasing school early because of the heat is a “significant barrier” to student’s learning, and speaks to a building’s physical limitations, Grover said.

“Our students are missing critical hours of learning opportunities. As we try to prepare our students to be future ready, we’re really facing the truth of the needs of our infrastructure for our students to be here in a safe and comfortable learning environment,” she said.

Next month, the district is asking voters in the Cedar Rapids school district to consider renewing the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, which finances dozens of projects each year at every school building in the district, including maintaining heating and cooling systems.

The issue will go to voters Sept. 10. The question will ask voters to consider approving the maximum PPEL of $1.34 for every $1,000 of assessed property valuation. If the levy is renewed, it would not increase the property tax levy rate for schools — the levy would simply continue. The levy requires a simple majority to pass.

Cedar Rapids schools Operations Director Chad Schumacher said the levy was used in the past to add geothermal cooling to Grant and Hiawatha elementary Schools. Just this summer, some of the funds were spent to replace air conditioning units in the Roosevelt and McKinley middle school’s gyms.

A 2018 cost analysis of replacing air conditioning units with central air in elementary schools showed it was more cost effective to build new when also considering other upgrades that needed to be made such as roofs, windows and doors, Schumacher said. It costs up to $6 million to completely upgrade an older school building with a central heating and cooling unit.

Linn-Mar releases early to reduce energy consumption

The Linn-Mar Community School District also released two hours early Monday, after being notified by Alliant Energy that the utility would reduce power to the district’s schools through a voluntary agreement between it and some customers to reduce energy consumption during periods of extreme demand.

On Monday, Alliant asked customers in the voluntary program to reduce their energy usage from 3 to 8 p.m.

Participants of Alliant’s voluntary “interruptible program” receive a discount on natural gas or electric pricing for the entire year. However, customers can choose whether to participate when a notification requesting they reduce their contracted levels is made.

The College Community School District, also a part of the Alliant program, chose not to participate Monday because of the time and since it was only the second day of school, district spokesman Steve Doser said. The district held a full day of school.

There is a financial impact for customers enrolled in the interruptible program who choose not to participate, said Melissa McCarville, spokeswoman for Alliant Energy.

The decision to request customers enrolled in the program to participate is made by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which manages the flow of electricity in this region across high-voltage, long-distance power lines, McCarville said.

“They play a critical role in making sure the right amount of electricity is generated for customers of their member companies,” McCarville said.

“Reliability and resilience are top priorities for us, and it’s our goal that no customer loses power,” McCarville said. The interruptible program “allows us to have sufficient resources to meet all demand obligations.”

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Linn-Mar plans to have a normal school schedule Tuesday unless Alliant Energy again requests it to reduce power through the program, according to a message to families from the school district.

Temperatures above 90 again are forecast for Tuesday, and an excessive heat warning remains in effect from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday with the heat index reaching up to 115 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

McCarville could not say if customers will be looking at requests from Alliant to implement the interruptible program again later this week.

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Other proactive measures taken by Eastern Iowa school districts includes keeping students indoors and postponing outdoor activities.

The Iowa City Community School District remained in school since all of its schools are air-conditioned, spokeswoman Kristin Pedersen said. Iowa City elementary schools hold indoor recess if the heat index is at or above 100 degrees.

Iowa City middle and high school’s outdoor practices either were moved to the morning or were held indoors.

The Clear Creek Amana Community School District had an already-planned early out for its first day of school Monday, releasing students around 1:30 p.m.

“We have all air-conditioned buildings, so we’re very comfortable,” spokeswoman Laurie Haman said.

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